| “ | Because I am about to initiate a powerful working, King Cole, and embark on a great journey. Such tales the mundys will spin from this. How wonderful the way they absorb our stories. | „ |
| ~ Frau Totenkinder about mundies in Fables #88 — "Totenkinder: Chapter Two of Witches" |
Mundy[2] (pronounced "Monday"),[3] or the mundane,[2] is the Fables' slang term — often used pejoratively,[1] — for humans citizens native to Earth,[2] their technology, or the world itself.[4] They are not part of any fairy tales, and apart from a very few cases, the mundies are generally unaware of the existence of the Fables and magic in general.
The hidden Fable community in New York City keep themselves hidden from the mundies.[5] However, after Fabletown is nearly destroyed in the wake of Cinderella and Frau Totenkinder's magical duel,[6] the Fables' existence and magical nature are exposed to the world.[7] As a result, with Bigby's magic leaking into the Earth prior, the ancient magic[8][9] dormant within the world begins to stir once again. In response to these changes, King Cole offered to educate the mundies on magic and the Fables, helping them adapt to the evolving world which they accepted.[10]
Mundy beliefs
To the mundy population, the Fables and their exploits are nothing more than fairy tales, folklore, myth or even nursery rhymes.[1] Depending on the popularity of the stories, the Fables seem to accordingly grow in power.[11]
Fable attitudes
While King Cole asserts that the term "mundy" isn't a pejorative, but merely refers to mundane folks,[3] the word is commonly used in a derogatory manner.[1]
Some Fables believe mundies to be an inferior race: Jack Horner views mundies as worthless and not real people. In his mind, killing mundies is as insignificant as squashing bugs because they have such short lifespans that they don't hold any value.[12] Similarly, Nurse Spratt regards them as arrogant, ignorant individuals with no value.[13] While searching for a way to resurrect herself, the ghost of Frau Totenkinder leaves a trail of mundane bodies behind, but is convinced that none of them are individuals of significance, "not in this ridiculous gutter world."[14] While possessing the body of Bookworm, she notes that it isn't strong enough, and claimed that that very few bodies in the mundane world are strong enough to stand up to the rigors of her craft.[15]
Some Fables see mundies as individuals with a lower sense of morals compared to Fables: Following the uprising at the Farm, Snow White emphasizes that Farm leader Weyland Smith is not at fault and the blame lies solely with the perpetrators, not their victims; and claims that Fabletown has managed to remain untainted by the mundies' "modern social philosophy" regarding these matters.[16] When Dr. Swineheart starts to suggest the possibility of abortion when Snow expresses her unhappiness about the scandal her pregnancy has resulted in, the appalled Snow accuses him of having adopted the mundies' way of thinking, and threatens to throw him out of Fabletown if he brings it up again.[17] As Boy Blue stands before a crowd of enraged Fables, he advises them that if they insist on behaving like a mob, they might as well go live in the mundy world, where such behavior is tolerated.[4]
Snow justifies the lack of marriage counseling in Fabletown by stating that the mundies may rely on their government to fix their issues, but in the Fable community, individuals are expected to take charge of their own lives.[5] While living in hiding in Las Vegas, Lady Luck states that "the eyes of the mundane are not so deep."[18] When Prospero states there is no need to hurry when it comes to deciding on a new leader for 13th Floor magicians, he adds that haste is a "mundy quality."[19] Despite having a mundy girlfriend, Reynard the Fox thinks of mundy folks in general as predictably simple.[20]
The Wolf Among Us
In The Wolf Among Us, there is an entry within the Book of Fables:
Short for "mundane," mundy is a catch-all term that Fables use to refer to the non-magical inhabitants of their adopted home. Warding spells placed around the blocks of Fabletown and The Farm keep their minds distracted and dull within certain boundaries. However, if anything should pique the curiosity or scrutiny of a large group of mundies, these magical protection charms would overload and fail. As sheriff of Fabletown, one of Bigby's primary functions is ensuring the Fabletown community maintains a low profile.